Miniature Diorama Photographer

1:18 Scale

Well this is sort of a follow up to that post. Pose skeleton is a 1:18 scale ball jointed miniature skeleton. Currently you can get adult models, a child, a cat and a dog. In my initial post I discussed places to get dollhouse like accessories for your pose skeleton. However, there’s a whole huge world of 1:18 scale I didn’t discuss. And now, just over a year later I think it’s about time.

Welcome to the world of action figures in 1:18 scale. In this scale figures range from 3 to 4 inches tall (most figures are 3.75 in.). You may be most familiar with this scale from the small G.I. Joe Action figures (http://www.yojoe.com/action/). However, this is also a popular scale for Star Wars, Aliens, Lost Planet, The Walking Dead, etc. as well as many larger model cars (http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/search.aspx?search=1:18).

Keep in mind, there are more figures than even on the above linked listing. Just look for items where the adult human figure would be about 3.75 inches tall. For example, Funko makes 4 inch tall Five Nights at Freddy figures, if an adult human put on an animal costume it might make them just a hint taller, so I’d say these figures are 1:18 scale. Also 1/144 scale gundam bots are just over the height of 1:18 scale figures, so even though they couldn’t carry a 1:18 human, they could still fight along side them.

Depending on how you imagine your scenes, every single one of these lines, their figures and their accessories can be mixed and matched to form a unique 1:18 scale world. The best place for individual accessories (with very reasonable prices), as well as some decent figures (including women) is Maurader’s. http://www.marauderinc.com/. If you’re looking for less military, more fantasy & historic, check out Boss Fight Studio – they have skeletons, fantasy, greek mythology, and fully customizable blank figures, with tons more coming soon. http://bossfightstudio.com/

When just getting into 1:18 scale collecting, there are 3 main things to consider – 1. obviously the look of the figures, 2. how posable they are – especially for play or toy photography, 3. your budget.

At our local Five Below – a discount store of sorts, you can get 1:18 military figures for $2.99 each. They honestly look pretty good as far as facial detail, their clothing is a bit lacking paint wise, but that’s fixable. However, they also aren’t very posable or customizable. Their knees and elbows bend and heads swivel, but that’s about it. Worth $2.99 though? Well yea, of course. (more $$ on amazon, but this is the only link I can find to share with you http://amzn.to/2icZThy). On the other end of the spectrum there are figures like those of the Acid Rain line by Kit Lau. At $30 each for the single figures, let alone vehicles and sets, they can make a very large hole in your wallet. That said, their paint job is incredible, being fully detailed and weathered and they have 30 points of articulation which is crazy, especially on this small of a scale. So worth $30? Well that depends on you, but I’d say, if you have the money, then a resounding yes. http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/menu.aspx?menu=3318

All this said, you can still use your military-esque figures in more home like settings with the tips from my Pose Skeleton post, and you can even re-purpose some of those cutesier accessories. Take for example my basement of a bombed out building set for my newest series in which I’ve used a barbie shovel, plates & cups from my 1:24 scale room box, 1:12 scale dollhouse cans, a lil bratz desk chair and locker, and lil bratz and fashion polly toys.

You can also use free online printables, like the cards you see in an image below. Find some great ones here. They are 1:24 scale, but you can scale them up slightly, or click over to the 1:12 scale items and scale them down before printing.

Jennifer you work is incredible and amazing! I love these miniature vignettes that you create with toys!! What is really outstanding is that you have a great story-line that most adults can appreciate. You have definitely got me thinking! Thanks for your wonderful Blog Posts!! Hands Clapping!!

That’s wonderful. I hope you’ll get a chance to help him with his blog again soon. I’ve been in quite a few publications – nothing huge, most recently Exclu Issue 3 of which print copies will be available later this month.